THE REAL estate firm of tycoon Lucio C. Tan is looking at putting up house and lot units in a portion of its high-end residential development in Quezon City.

the 68 Roces project in Quezon City

“We just launched the house and lot development. We are studying how it goes. If the velocity is good, we would probably change the mix of this development,” Franklin G. Atencio, Jr., project group head of Eton Properties, said in an interview.

It will be the first house and lot venture of Eton Properties in the high-end market, where prices start at P100,000 per square meter.

In the original plan, the 68 Roces project in Quezon City, which was launched in April last year, will have 190 units in three- to four-storey buildings.

But the left side of the 68 Roces might be reconfigured for the house and lot units.

“We just launched 10 units. But before we launched them, six units have already been sold,” Mr. Atencio said.

“What is unique about this type of house and lot development is it is inside a gated community,” he added.

A 168-208-square-meter, four-bedroom house and lot unit will cost about P15 million-P18 million. It will also have a two-car garage.

“We are selling a hundred million per month, which is above average,” Mr. Atencio said of the 94-unit right portion of the property development. So far, 60% of the P12-million to P15-million units have been sold.

For this year, Eton Properties is allotting P1 billion for the development of the club house, entrance gateway and more model units. Turnover of the units will start as early as July next year.

The 3.3-hectare site is located at the center of Quezon City, near private schools, hospitals, and shopping centers.

“It is a fusion of green architecture, modern architecture and good feng shui,” Mr. Atencio said. “The unique selling proposition of 68 Roces will be the fusion of those three elements.”

Once completed, 68 Roces will also include a green pathway, a 2.5-meter wide grass-layered passageway between residential clusters connecting the entire neighborhood.

For security, 68 Roces will have 24-hour security personnel, CCTV cameras and a high perimeter wall with an electrified fence.

Eton Properties posted a net income of P67 million from January to September 2009, a turnaround from a loss of P120 million in the same period in 2008. Revenues, meanwhile, surged to P1.5 billion during the period with property companies starting to book profits based on project completion under accounting rules. -- Neil Jerome C. Morales